'Tesla Phone' won't launch unless Apple and Google force it into existence, says Elon Musk
Debunking all of those 'Tesla Phone' rumor videos, Elon Musk sets the record straight about his plans (or lack thereof) regarding making a smartphone
📱The long-rumored ‘Tesla Phone’ isn’t the roadmap, according to Elon Musk
🙅♂️ All of those YouTube videos claiming it’s “real” have been proven fake
🤔 Musk said Tesla’s in the best position to make a smartphone if it wanted
🍎 But it won’t happen – unless Apple and Google start to censor or gatekeep
All of the sketchy rumor videos say the “Tesla Phone is real” are bogus, according to a new interview with Elon Musk. However, the billionaire CEO does outline what it would take for a Tesla smartphone to exist, and it involves Apple and Google.
“No, we’re not doing a phone,” admitted Musk on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast before saying it’s feasible. “We could do a phone. The operating system of Tesla is Linux-based, but we’ve written a massive amount of software on top of that.”
Musk noted that “Telsa is in a better position to create a new phone that’s not Android or iPhone than any company in the world.” SpaceX, Musk’s other company, is making progress with its Starlink direct-to-cell satellite project with T-Mobile, but the 2025-bound service is likely as far as he gets with launching smartphone technology.
What it would take for the Tesla Phone
So, the development of a Tesla phone isn’t even in Musk’s mind, but there’s one thing that could force the world’s richest man to prioritize creating a rival to the iPhone 16 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
“It’s not something we want to do unless we have to or something,” said Musk before diving into his favorite topic on X these days: censorship.
“If Apple, Google/Android started doing really bad things like censorship of apps or being gatekeepers in a really bad way, then I guess we would make a phone.”
There were claims from Musk that Apple threatened to ban Twitter from its App Store in 2022 for unknown reasons (likely due to a lack of commitment to moderation), but Twitter and its rebranded X app were never removed.
Apple and Google could take Musk’s statements about making a smartphone as a shot across the bow in case something like that ever happens. But Musk already has a lot to focus on (in addition to opening the podcast saying he’s ranked in the top 20 Diablo players in the world).
“Our focus is on making great electric cars, solving autonomy so that cars can drive themselves; we’re building humanoid robots, we’ve got large utility-scale battery packs with the MegaPack, home battery packs with PowerWall and solar.”
Musk concluded: “The plate’s full.”
Next up: See the Tesla Cybercab